He said he and his wife will feature a few more salads as the weather heats up and will offer a weekly soup depending on the season — chicken and noodle and beef while it is cooler and a gazpacho later in the summer.

“We also sell produce, but so do a lot of others,” he said. “You have to find a niche.

“We do the holiday markets sponsored by the Illinois Stewardship Alliance at the state fairgrounds in the fall,” Daniels said. “Those are huge soup-sellers.”

Illinois ranks third in the nation in the number of farmers markets with 330, according to the state Department of Agriculture.

Between 1994, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture began publishing the National Directory of Farmers Markets, and 2013, the number nationally has more than quadrupled to more than 8,100.

Carollo said he and Wilson sell at farmers markets other than Springfield.

“We do quite a few,” he said. “St. Louis, one around where we're from.”

But they make the 2 1/2-hour trek to Springfield for the Old Capitol market because “a lot of people come through here.”